How do you mod?

Well Thats a very broud question imo but heres whare you start...

Go to downloads and download the resource files.

After that create a folder with the name of your mod in:

C:\users\[Insert uer name where file may be]\appdata\local\ironclad games\sin of a soler empire\mods

Extract the Resource file using a program like WinRAR to your mods folder.

Open the Game Info File Inside the resource folder thats in your mods folder.

And finnaly mod away using your favorite word program.

While modding be careful not to hit: SPACE/TAB/ENTER/DELETE/BACKSPACE/Or any other key that moves or deletes text because you wont be able to enable your mod witch sucks whe you edit a tun of information.Witch leads to my next point.

Save Alot and I reccomend (especially when your first sarting out) Start the game up and test it to make sure you can enable it after every file you change.

Excuse me for being a noob, but what do you mean by "resource files"?

And what is actually edited; the game itself, meaning only you can play the mod, or a map, meaning others can play as well?

By resource files he means on the downloads section there is a mod tools download. Grab that and look through once downloaded for the gameinfo file. copy that and paste it into the folder that you created in the C:\users\[Insert uer name where file may be]\appdata\local\ironclad games\sin of a soler empire\mods directory.

Then once you've edited it to your liking start the game up and goto options then mods. You will load the mod independently sorta like maps. So if you offer the mod for download like so many in this forum and everyone has it you should technically be able to play it with others.

Aight, thanks.

But that means you can't jsut make a game online, with the mod, and have other people play it with ya right off the bat?

If they have the same mod as you then there should be no problem but I havent tried online enough to know.

Most likly what will happen though like will so many games is when the person tries to join it will kick them out and give them a message saying something like "The match you are trying to join is currently useing a different version of the game" or something.

In short...no it wont work probably.

Im so sorry i meant the Refrence data in the download section at the bottem of the page. I always get them mixed up. The recource file is in the reference data and thats what you need.

Okay, so I made my modifications to some of the files...
How do I play them?
I copied them, with the whole complement of other GameInfo files, into the Mods folder.
I go into the game, look to the mods list... and it's empty.
Uhm.

I am quite a noob myself and I want to change some of the ship mesh files yet I haven't the slightest clue

-a POed noob who wants a Halo mod(aka sam\fife)

i do not completely understand how to create the folder, do i just go into c:\users and then make a folder with my name, or do i make it completely like above?

b/c under users, i only have 2 folders, "user" and "public".

i am on vista

nevermind i found it, it was hidden

nevermind i found it, it was hidden

Way to triple post.
I have an issue, though!
I pasted all the files into my mod folder, along with the ones I edited.
BUT
When I try to run it in game, it crashes the game! All I changed in the files were values for damage, cost, and maneuverability.
Why isn't it working?

Are you sure you're using 1.03 reference data? If not, use that instead. Also, go over the files again and make sure the syntax is exactly the same. Blank lines are not good and they will cause crashes, make sure you didn't make any typos when deleting or something, and that all the values go to 6 decimal places as a precaution.

Also, if none of that is it, try to narrow down what exactly is crashing it - it might be slow, but add your mod one file at a time and see which one does it, so at least you'll know where the problem is.

OMG WTF!!!!
Ok, so I try loading my mods, again and again.
Then, on a whim, I place the unaltered reference files, straight from download, into the mod folder... AND IT DOESN'T WORK!
Wtf is that!?

Ok, if no-one has asked this yet, they should have

POST A SCREENSHOT. We need a screenshot of your mod folder with the address bar visible. You must have the structure all wrong in the mod folder.

I seem to be having issues loading an image, but here's the path:

C:\Documents and Settings\Universal\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Mods\MyMod

(I have XP)

No, a screenshot is the only way, it will show us your folder structure. Like this if you can(from another post, but has the same affect):


To do this, hit the 'PrtScn' button near your F12 button, then open Paint, or something similar, and paste it in (Ctrl+V). Then save, and upload it to Imageshack and post the 'Direct Link to Image' address you are given at the bottom of the next page.

I know how to take a screen shot, it was the uploading bit that was getting me....
anyways, here.

WWW Link

Strange. You have put every file from all those folders in right? So 896 in GameInfo, 320 in Mesh, 440 in Particle, and 106 in Window.
You have also used the 1.03 reference data, and are playing 1.03 of Sins?

Edit: Sorry if these have been asked, I haven't been following this thread.

896 in GameInfo
320 in Mesh
440 in Particle
106 in Window
Hmm.....
Yes, I redownloaded it just to be sure.

Definitely using the 1.03 reference data? And you say you change nothing and put it in, and it crashes?

Yes. I jsut redownloaded again, and tried, again.
Load the mod file, wait...
*ding*
and the game freezes.
Alt-Tab out, and theres a mini dump notification thing. Click okay, and SoaSE closes.

Enable logging and upload the log somewhere, if you don't know how to do this, check the bottom of my mods First Post, here.